The first book in what was originally going to be a Light Novel series contest entry. I'm now turning this into something that may as well be seen as a true Japanophile's dream project... while at the same time making it a LitRPG series.

Well... progress is slow and incremental. I think this is where I say I need to make sure I don't screw this up.

Initially, I was planning on there being three heroes for the first book, but I'm redoing my plans for that idea. It's because, well... I was inspired, shall we say. I had been reading Light Novels lately.

Now, about the reason why it's taking me this long to make an update in this thread, let me be honest. I have so many projects going on at once it's not even funny. I think I should purge a few of my projects... but what to purge? That's the million dollar question.

Ugh... status report on my end. With a lot of issues on my end, including the lack of working internet on my tower computer, I've been without a chance to get to write my stuff. I'm going to rectify that right now.

My advice is to just start writing. Whenever I hit a road block in my work, and can't figure out where to start I just start writing short stories, etc. I used to keep a blog and do that sort of thing, but these days I've kept my work centered around one fictional universe rather than doing little short stories about any old thing. While my series is a bit rough, the more I write in my universe the more my world building give me a definite direction to take characters, and the better I understand and work out issues with technology, magic, etc.

“Your destiny never was contained in these walls godsborne. I saw you fall in my vision, but then you did get back up. Many times, we all fall, and many times we must get back up.” -Des'Triss,Infernal Engineers Book 3
[Author: Infernal Engineers Series, Current Progress of Sky Drifters: 65% 77,682 words, 127 pages in MsWord]

My advice is to just start writing. Whenever I hit a road block in my work, and can't figure out where to start I just start writing short stories, etc. I used to keep a blog and do that sort of thing, but these days I've kept my work centered around one fictional universe rather than doing little short stories about any old thing. While my series is a bit rough, the more I write in my universe the more my world building give me a definite direction to take characters, and the better I understand and work out issues with technology, magic, etc.

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Thank you for the advice. Honestly, I'm a plotter more than a pantser, but I can appreciate the advice you've given me. I'll definitely keep it all in mind.

Thank you for the advice. Honestly, I'm a plotter more than a pantser, but I can appreciate the advice you've given me. I'll definitely keep it all in mind.

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Yea, I'm more of a freewriter. When people ask me if I go off a plot I crack up laughing and look at my cluttered cork board next to my desk filled with post-it notes, yarn and sections with big black Xs on it. I just write, and then I rewrite, etc. That said, my messy approach to writing isn't for everyone and you do notice that I turned my first book of my series into a minefield of plot holes, etc as my world building matured over the next three books.

The thing is, with me I can't stop writing or I tend to lose track of my characters and world. Writing about them in short stories, or just writing backstory is what helps me develop my world and keep track of stuff and also gives me multiple directions to take my work if I hit writer's block in one direction.

“Your destiny never was contained in these walls godsborne. I saw you fall in my vision, but then you did get back up. Many times, we all fall, and many times we must get back up.” -Des'Triss,Infernal Engineers Book 3
[Author: Infernal Engineers Series, Current Progress of Sky Drifters: 65% 77,682 words, 127 pages in MsWord]

I feel a similar way to you, to be honest. Personally, I have trouble remembering some of the plot points I want to put into my stories if I've been away from any of them for a sufficient amount of time. That's why I tend to plot things out in advance if I can help it. I don't want to forget anything major if I can help it.

Okay, more work done on this story project, but not nearly enough for me to say I'm happy with how the story's layout is gonna be. I decided to put the story on Royal Road as big chunks at a time, but I still need to know what happens about three story arcs ahead of time. As it stands, I'm currently in story arc number two, and I'm not even close to done with that arc yet. I have in mind that the first story arc is four chapters (plus the prologue), while the second and third arcs are longer by a fair margin. How long, you ask? Well, try fifteen and twenty chapters respectively. I need to get all the content I can squeezed into the first book, then move onto the second book, and so on. I want to make this be a decently sized series... with some of the Royal Road stories split into separate books for ease of publication to the Amazon customers.

In other news, I am officially preparing to have fun tomorrow at my MTG group's hangout, the reason being for the Pre-Release of the second half of the new Ravnica set that came out a few months ago. Expect sporadic updates for this because of that.

Also, is it just me, or is 480k words too much for a book in web serial format?

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Eh, I think what's "too long" is entirely a subjective thing. People who are used to gobbling up epic fanfictions will be fine with something that long, but others might want it shorter. Or as my husband says: "If a book is good I don't want it to end. Take your 50K short stories and get them out of my face."

He's the guy who can easily read 480k in like, a day. A day that includes work and other obligations.

IMO if the story works at the length it is and nothing can really be cut without hurting it...then it's the length it needs to be. Traditions or common wisdom be damned.